In the spirit of The Bicycle Kitchen and The Bike Oven (etc.), I recently transformed my woodworking shop into a shared bicycle repair space. We’re calling it The Bicycle Lounge. Currently, we’re opening up the shop on Tuesday evenings to coincide with our regular weekly BBQ (called BBQ Tuesday, obviously enough). So far, we have established a board of directors -- ranging in ages from 18 to 55 so to represent the diverse needs of our community --, we have met once to work out a general plan of how this thing might work, and we have already gotten good response from local cycling groups. There remain plenty of untapped resources, and we are determined to get them involved.

At our next board meeting, which will be in a couple of weeks, we will start with a local bike ride, settle on a mission statement, compile a list of potential commercial spaces, compile a list of potential funding / granting sources, agree on the legal structure of the organization, agree on the curriculum for our first seminar --- which will be on emergency bike repair, like fixing flats and such, and we will probably eat a lot of BBQed meat and throw back some frosty beverages.

Our feeling is that Riverside is ripe for this sort of venture. Anecdotally, we see a lot more bikes on the streets, and talking to the folks at my favorite LBS, they report sales increases of more than 50% over last year. We are confident that this thing can work.

Cool - one question though, wouldn't the LBS concerned about losing repair business to the "competition"?

Good question, and we've considered this. Orange 20 and The Bicycle Kitchen (for example') co-exist in LA because they target different markets (roughly speaking). We don't aim to replace the bicycle repair shop, and we don't aim to stock and sell bike parts or brand new bikes like an LBS. Our goal is educational, at heart. We aim to support and to assist those who WANT to learn about bicycles, which is a different demographic from those who wish to simply drop a bike off and return to pick it up tuned or repaired as desired. Individuals learn to do their own work, and we aim to ally ourselves with the LBS as far as their being the place where do-it-yourself-ers would purchase parts, and our being the place where folks install parts themselves.

I love our LBS and I steer people to them all the time when it seems appropriate. In the past few months, at least a half dozen people have purchased bicycles there BECAUSE of my recommendations. But there are plenty of folks I know who are interested in doing their own projects themselves, and the LBS does not explicitly support that. It's a subtle difference in business models -- we cater to those who think to themselves, for example, "I just want to adjust the brakes and lube the chain -- can't I do that myself?" At our place, YES!

The Oven gets a lot of donations from bike shops. REI just sent over boxes of the parts they have taken off bikes when people have upgraded...

Hey so how did it go last night, Brian?

We had a line of people wanting to do things to their bikes. In fact, we ran out of time and space. We had a couple of people who had done cross-country rides recently, a bunch of new fixed gear riders, and for a while it looked like a vintage bike show. In short: great success! We have got to expand SOON!!

Hey brother,
I'd love to get in on this venture. I wrench on my bike quite a bit, have all the tools, most of the knowledge, just have a better career path than a LBS wrench.
I am also trying to organize commute routes for some of our local businesses from the local cities like Canyon Crest, Moreno Valley, and Corona/Norco.
I can also add a few skills to your membership. I have a solid advertising background, along with website creation/layout/building/maintenance.
I'm commuting tomorrow, so I may swing by on the way home. I'll try to give you a call.

Hey brother,
I'd love to get in on this venture. I wrench on my bike quite a bit, have all the tools, most of the knowledge, just have a better career path than a LBS wrench.
I am also trying to organize commute routes for some of our local businesses from the local cities like Canyon Crest, Moreno Valley, and Corona/Norco.
I can also add a few skills to your membership. I have a solid advertising background, along with website creation/layout/building/maintenance.
I'm commuting tomorrow, so I may swing by on the way home. I'll try to give you a call.

Take Care,
Brian G.

Great. Definitely call and stop by. About mapping out commuter routes: that's one thing we are interested in doing as well -- especially since our goal is primarily education, and we intend to cater to commuters. We should collaborate on this.

shi t, man. i have tonight off, too! i totally forgot. my gf and i already have plans. costco, dinner, and a movie. then home depot, maybe bed bath and beyond, i don't know. i don't know if we'll have enough time.

shi t, man. i have tonight off, too! i totally forgot. my gf and i already have plans. costco, dinner, and a movie. then home depot, maybe bed bath and beyond, i don't know. i don't know if we'll have enough time.

Costco? Bed Bath and Beyond? Home Depot? JFC, it sounds like you're moving into middle age. Pretty soon you'll be wearing ugly jerseys and complaining about the drunken kids on the CM rides.

shi t, man. i have tonight off, too! i totally forgot. my gf and i already have plans. costco, dinner, and a movie. then home depot, maybe bed bath and beyond, i don't know. i don't know if we'll have enough time.

We're more fun than dinner and a movie, I promise. Home Depot? What do you need? I have a lot of weird stuff in my workshop. BB&B (or Bathroom B!tch, as we call it) -- probably can't help you there. Unless you're looking for a humidifier: I've got one of those I need to offload.

shi t, man. i have tonight off, too! i totally forgot. my gf and i already have plans. costco, dinner, and a movie. then home depot, maybe bed bath and beyond, i don't know. i don't know if we'll have enough time.

OK, you know what? You know what? Gimme that thing! I'll do one, do one.

We're more fun than dinner and a movie, I promise. Home Depot? What do you need? I have a lot of weird stuff in my workshop. BB&B (or Bathroom B!tch, as we call it) -- probably can't help you there. Unless you're looking for a humidifier: I've got one of those I need to offload.

is it a digital humidifier? if so I need one of those.. something with a footprint under 1/2 a sq foot.

As for the commuting routes.. I have a few mapped out on bikely... I am thinking the education and possibly even promoting a group ride to work would be a most excellent idea. Especially for those who don't think they can do a 10 - 15 mile ride before work.